Conveyor belt for use within a toaster appliance for preventing the pinching of food buns

ABSTRACT

A conveyor belt for conveying articles along a conveyor path comprises a plurality of slat members disposed parallel to each other and disposed transversely with respect to the conveyor path, wherein leading and trailing edge portions of the slat members are angled downwardly with respect to the conveying surface upon which articles being conveyed are supported so as to prevent edge portions of the articles being conveyed from being interposed between the leading and trailing edge portions of the slat members so as not to be pinched by adjacent ones of the leading and trailing edge portions of adjacent slat members.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a non-provisional patent application basedupon provisional patent application No. 62/555,740 which was filed inthe United States Patent and Trademark Office on Sep. 8, 2017, thepriority benefits of which are hereby claimed.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to food equipment, and moreparticularly to an endless conveyor for conveying food buns within afood appliance in such a manner that pinching and deforming of the foodbuns is effectively prevented as the food buns are traveling along theendless conveyor, especially within the vicinity of either one of theend portions of the endless conveyor where the conveyor belt is routedaround the end drive and driven sprockets of the endless conveyormechanism.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the fast-food, sandwich-making industry, innumerable food buns areutilized to make various different sandwiches such as, for example,hamburgers. The food buns are usually lightly toasted so as to impartwarmth to the food funs as well as to impart a predetermined degree ofcrispness to the food buns. In addition, particularly within thefast-food industry, speed is a critical factor to be considered whenpreparing food items as ordered by patrons, as well as the aestheticappearance of the finished food product. Accordingly, many operationsare automated. One such operation is the toasting of the food bunswherein, for example, fresh, non-toasted food buns are inserted into anupper entrance end portion of a toaster appliance, the food buns arethen conveyed vertically downwardly through the toaster appliance so asto be toasted while being conveyed vertically downwardly through thetoaster appliance, and the toasted food buns are then discharged from alower end portion of the toaster appliance. The food buns are conveyedalong an endless conveyor belt which is continuously rotated aroundupper and lower drive and driven sprocket mechanisms operativelyconnected to a suitable drive motor. Alternatively, of course, theappliance can be structured so that the conveyor mechanism can beoriented horizontally.

One example of such an endless conveyor belt is disclosed within U.S.Pat. No. 7,987,972 which issued to Hennigar et al. on Aug. 2, 2011. Thispatent discloses a wire plate conveyor belt wherein adjacent plateelements are connected together by means of rod structures.Occasionally, particularly at the entrance end portion of the toasterappliance, as the conveyor belt is driven around the curved end portionof the conveyor mechanism, at which one of the drive or driven sprocketsis disposed, the adjacent edge portions of adjacent plate elements ofthe conveyor will tend to separate from each other as the conveyor beltapproaches and moves around this curved end portion of the conveyormechanism. Accordingly, enlarged spaces will effectively be formedbetween adjacent edge portions of adjacent plate elements whereby anedge portion of a food bun, which has been inserted into the toasterappliance, can become disposed. Subsequently, as the conveyor belteffectively traverses the curved end portion of the endless conveyor, asdefined by means of the drive or driven sprocket, the enlarged spacesbetween the adjacent plate elements will effectively be closed wherebythe adjacent edge portions of the adjacent plate elements will againeffectively come into engagement with each other. Accordingly, it can beappreciated that if an edge portion of one of the food buns wasinitially disposed within one of the enlarged spaces, then it would bepinched, distorted, or deformed due to its disposition between theadjacent edge portions of the adjacent plate elements which are now inengagement with each other. This is undesirable from the viewpoint ofproviding the patron with a food product that is aesthetically pleasing.

A need therefore exists in the art for a new and improved piece of foodservice equipment. Another need exists in the art for a new and improvedfood appliance. An additional need exists in the art for a new andimproved food appliance comprising a toaster for toasting food products.A still additional need exists in the art for a new and improved foodappliance comprising a toaster for toasting food products and which willhave a vertically or horizontally oriented conveyor mechanism disposedinteriorly thereof for conveying the food products during a toastingcycle. A yet additional need exists in the art for a new and improvedfood appliance comprising a toaster which has a vertically orhorizontally oriented conveyor mechanism disposed interiorly thereof forconveying the food products during a toasting cycle and which isutilized for toasting various different food products such as, forexample, food buns. A still yet additional need exists in the art for anew and improved food appliance comprising a toaster which has avertically or horizontally oriented conveyor mechanism disposedinteriorly thereof for conveying the food products during a toastingcycle and wherein the conveyor mechanism comprises an endless conveyor.A further need exists in the art for a new and improved food appliancecomprising a toaster which has a vertically or horizontally orientedconveyor mechanism disposed interiorly thereof for conveying foodproducts during a toasting cycle and wherein the conveyor mechanismcomprises an endless conveyor which can continuously convey the foodproducts, such as, for example, food buns, from an entrance end portionof the appliance to a discharge end portion of the appliance. A stillfurther need exists in the art for a new and improved food appliancecomprising a toaster appliance which has a vertically or horizontallyoriented conveyor mechanism disposed interiorly thereof for conveyingthe food products during a toasting cycle, wherein the conveyormechanism comprises an endless conveyor which can continuously conveythe food products, such as, for example, food buns, from an entrance endportion of the appliance to a discharge end portion of the appliance,and wherein the component parts of the vertically or horizontallyoriented endless conveyor will not pinch, distort, or deform the foodproducts while the food products are being conveyed through the toasterappliance.

Overall Objectives of the Invention

An overall objective of the present invention is to provide a new andimproved piece of food service equipment. Another overall objective ofthe present invention is to provide a new and improved food appliance.An additional overall objective of the present invention is to provide anew and improved food appliance comprising a toaster for toasting foodproducts. A still additional overall objective of the present inventionis to provide a new and improved food appliance comprising a toaster fortoasting food products and which will have a vertically or horizontallyoriented conveyor mechanism disposed interiorly thereof for conveyingthe food products during a toasting cycle. A yet additional overallobjective of the present invention is to provide a new and improved foodappliance comprising a toaster which has a vertically or horizontallyoriented conveyor mechanism disposed interiorly thereof for conveyingthe food products during a toasting cycle and which is utilized fortoasting various different food products such as, for example, foodbuns. A still yet additional overall objective of the present inventionis to provide a new and improved food appliance comprising a toasterwhich has a vertically or horizontally oriented conveyor mechanismdisposed interiorly thereof for conveying the food products during atoasting cycle and wherein the conveyor mechanism comprises an endlessconveyor. A further overall objective of the present invention is toprovide a new and improved food appliance comprising a toaster which hasa vertically or horizontally oriented conveyor mechanism disposedinteriorly thereof for conveying food products during a toasting cycleand wherein the conveyor mechanism comprises an endless conveyor whichcan continuously convey the food products, such as, for example, foodbuns, from an entrance end portion of the appliance to a discharge endportion of the appliance. A still further overall objective of thepresent invention is to provide a new and improved food appliancecomprising a toaster appliance which has a vertically or horizontallyoriented conveyor mechanism disposed interiorly thereof for conveyingthe food products during a toasting cycle, wherein the conveyormechanism comprises an endless conveyor which can continuously conveythe food products, such as, for example, food buns, from an entrance endportion of the appliance to a discharge end portion of the appliance,and wherein the component parts of the vertically or horizontallyoriented endless conveyor will not pinch, distort, or deform the foodproducts while the food products are being conveyed through the toasterappliance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The foregoing and other objectives of the present invention are achievedin accordance with the principles and teachings of the present inventionthrough the provision of a new and improved piece of food serviceequipment or food appliance for toasting food products, such as, forexample, food buns, wherein an endless conveyor is disposed internallywithin the toaster-type food service equipment or food appliance, andwherein the endless conveyor can be oriented either vertically orhorizontally. The endless conveyor comprises a plurality of longitudinalslat members which are disposed transversely with respect to thedirection of movement of the endless conveyor when the endless conveyoris moving in its direction of movement so as to convey the food productsthrough the toaster appliance, and in order to prevent the food productsfrom becoming pinched, distorted, or deformed, as a result of beinginterposed between adjacent longitudinal edge portions of adjacent slatmembers, particularly when the longitudinal slat members traverse theopposite curved end portions of the endless conveyor mechanism at whichdrive and driven sprocket members are located for moving the endlessconveyor mechanism along its endless conveyor path, the longitudinalleading and trailing edge portions of each slat member are angleddownwardly at a predetermined angle from, or with respect to, the mainplanar surface of the endless conveyor upon which the food products arebeing conveyed. In this manner, adjacent longitudinal leading andtrailing edge portions of adjacent longitudinal slat members are angledaway from the main planar surface of the endless conveyor upon which thefood products are being conveyed such that the food products are alwayssupported upon the main planar surface of the endless conveyor andcannot become interposed between adjacent edge portions of adjacent slatmembers of the endless conveyor. Accordingly, the food products will notbe pinched, distorted, or deformed as a result of being interposedbetween adjacent edge portions of adjacent slat members of the endlessconveyor.

In order to effectively connect the plurality of slat members togetherso as to collectively form the endless conveyor, as well as to drive theendless conveyor formed by the plurality of slat members, the slatmembers are respectively fixedly secured, such as, for example, by meansof a crimping process or a welding process, to a plurality oflongitudinal rods, which are disposed parallel to each other and alsoextend transversely with respect to the direction of movement of theconveyor, such that the plurality of longitudinal slats are effectivelycentered upon the longitudinal rods. The end portions of each rod extendlongitudinally beyond the end portions of their respective slat memberswhereby each opposite end portion of each longitudinal rod is then bentso as to form a 90° knuckle bend whereby a second section of the rodextends perpendicular to the first section of the rod, which is the endportion of the longitudinal rod, and thereby extends substantiallyparallel to the direction of movement of the endless conveyor. Lastly, athird section of the rod comprises a 180° knuckle bend such that thethird section of the rod is effectively disposed within the same planeas that of the second section of the rod and is likewise disposedsubstantially parallel to the direction of movement of the endlessconveyor. In addition, the third section of each rod also partiallysurrounds the first section of an adjacent rod fixedly connected to anadjacent one of the longitudinal slats. In this manner, all of thelongitudinal slats are fixedly secured to their respective rods, and allof the rods are connected together as a result of each rod beingrespectively connected to an adjacent one of the plurality of rods.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various other features and attendant advantages of the present inventionwill be more fully appreciated from the following detailed descriptionwhen considered in connection with the accompanying drawings in whichlike reference characters designate like or corresponding partsthroughout the several views, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the new and improved conveyor belt asconstructed in accordance with the principles and teachings of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the new and improved conveyor belt of thepresent invention as disclosed within FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the new and improved conveyor beltas disclosed within FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of one of the plurality of slats which formthe endless conveyor belt as shown within FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the slat shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the slat shown in FIG. 4as taken along the line 6-6 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the encircled region denoted by thereference number 7 of FIG. 3 showing one of the rods, to which one ofthe slats of the endless conveyor as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 has beenfixedly secured, as secured to, or interconnected, with adjacent rods ofadjacent slats of the endless conveyor disposed upon opposite sides ofthe fully disclosed rod.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2thereof, the new and improved conveyor belt, for use within, forexample, a food product toaster appliance and as constructed inaccordance with the principles and teachings of the present invention,is disclosed and is generally indicated by the reference character 100.More particularly, it is seen that the conveyor belt 100 comprises aplurality of longitudinal slat members 102 which are disposed parallelto each other as well as transversely with respect to the direction ofmovement D of the endless conveyor 100 when the endless conveyor 100 ismoving in the direction of movement D so as to convey the food productsthrough the toaster appliance. It is to be appreciated that each one ofthe plurality of longitudinal slat members 102 is respectively adaptedto be fixedly secured to or mounted upon a longitudinal rod 104, whichcan best be seen in FIG. 6, as a result of a crimping or weldingoperation. Each one of the plurality of slat members 102 is alsoprovided with a substantially semi-circular cutout or punched outportion 105 at each longitudinal end of each slat member 102 so as topositionally accommodate the opposite ends of the longitudinal rods 104,as can best be seen in FIGS. 6 and 7, such that the slat members 102 canbe stably mounted or supported upon the rod members 104 prior to thecrimping or welding process.

Continuing further, it is also to be understood, as can best beappreciated from FIG. 7, that when the conveyor belt 100 travels along asubstantially planar portion of its endless conveyor path, edge portionsof adjacent slat members 102 are spaced very close to each other, asdenoted by the letter S in FIG. 7, however, as the conveyor belt 100approaches and traverses the rounded or curved end portions of theconveyor belt travel path, at which are conventionally located the motordrive and driven sprockets of the conveyor belt mechanism, the spacesdefined between the edge portions of the adjacent slat members 102 willbe enlarged. Accordingly, such enlarged spaces present the possibilityof an edge portion of a food product, such as, for example, a food bun,which has been deposited onto the conveyor belt 100 at a location nearor adjacent to one of the rounded or curved end portions of the conveyorbelt travel path, to become disposed within one of the enlarged spaces.Subsequently, as the conveyor belt completes its travel traversal aroundthe rounded or curved end portion of the conveyor belt mechanism, theslat members 102 will once again come together such that the edgeportions of the adjacent slat members 102 will again be spaced apartfrom each other by means of the relatively small aforenoted separationdistance or space S. Accordingly, if an edge portion of the food productor bun was in fact disposed within the aforenoted enlarged space, theedge portion of the food product or bun will now be pinched, distorted,deformed, or crushed as a result of the same now being interposedbetween the edge portions of the pair of adjacent slat members 102 whichare now very close together.

Therefore, in order to prevent the food products from becoming pinched,distorted, deformed, or crushed, as a result of being interposed betweenadjacent longitudinal edge portions of adjacent slat members 102,particularly when the longitudinal slat members traverse the oppositecurved end portions of the endless conveyor mechanism at which drive anddriven sprocket members are located for moving the endless conveyormechanism along its endless conveyor path, the longitudinal leading andtrailing edge portions 106 of each slat member 102 are angled downwardlyat a predetermined angle α from, or with respect to, the main planarsurface 108 of each one of the plurality of slat members 102 whicheffectively form the main or primary conveying surface of the endlessconveyor 100 upon which the food products are being conveyed, as canbest be appreciated from FIG. 7. In this manner, adjacent longitudinaledge portions 106, of adjacent longitudinal slat members 102, are angledaway from the main or primary planar surface 108 of each one of theplurality of slat members 102 forming the endless conveyor 100 and uponwhich the food products are being conveyed such that the food productsare always supported upon the main planar surface 108 of each one of theplurality of slat members 102 forming the endless conveyor 100 andcannot become interposed between adjacent edge portions 106 of adjacentslat members 102 of the endless conveyor 100. Accordingly, the foodproducts will not be pinched, distorted, deformed, or crushed as aresult of being interposed between adjacent edge portions 106 ofadjacent slat members 102 of the endless conveyor 100. It is furthernoted that the predetermined angle at which the edge portions 106 of theplurality of slats are angled with respect to the main or primary planarportions 108 of the plurality of slat members is preferably 10°. Stillyet further, it is noted that the slat members 102 are fabricated fromT304 stainless steel and the slat members 102 are subjected to a No. 2Bbrushed finish using a 20 grit belt with each slat member 102 beingpassed through the finishing process twice. This fabrication techniqueimparts desirable qualities to the plurality of slat members 102 suchthat the food products will effectively adhere to the slat members 102such that the slat members 102 can properly convey the food productsalong the conveyor path.

With reference now being made to FIGS. 4, 6, and 7, in order toeffectively connect the plurality of slat members 102 together so as tocollectively form the endless conveyor 100, as well as to drive theendless conveyor 100 formed by the plurality of slat members 102, eachone of the slat members 102 is respectively fixedly secured, such as,for example, by means of a crimping process or a welding process, to oneof a plurality of the longitudinal rods 104, which are disposed parallelto each other, such that the plurality of longitudinal slats 102 areeffectively centered upon the longitudinal rods 104. The end sections110 of each one of the plurality of rods extend longitudinally beyondthe end portions of their respective slat members 102, as can best beappreciated from FIGS. 1 and 2, whereby each opposite end section ofeach one of the plurality of longitudinal rods 104 is then bent so as toform a 90° knuckle bend 112, or to which a 90° knuckle connector 112 canbe attached to the end section 110 of each one of the plurality oflongitudinal rods 104, whereby a second rod section 114 extendsperpendicular to the first rod section 110 and thereby extendssubstantially parallel to the direction of movement D of the endlessconveyor 100. Lastly, a 180° knuckle bend or connector 116 is attachedto the second rod section 114 such that a third rod section 118 iseffectively disposed within the same plane as that of the second rodsection 114 and is likewise disposed substantially parallel to thedirection of movement D of the endless conveyor 100. Furthermore, it isto be appreciated that the knuckle bend 116 of each rod connectorassembly also partially surrounds the first rod section 110 of anadjacent one of the plurality of rods 104 fixedly connected to anadjacent one of the plurality of longitudinal slat members 102. In thismanner, all of the longitudinal slat members 102 are fixedly secured totheir respective rods 104, and all of the rods 104 are connectedtogether as a result of each rod 104 being respectively connected to anadjacent one of the plurality of rods 104.

Still further, it has been noted that when the conveyor 100 has been inoperation for a substantially long period of time, the conveyor chain,effectively formed by means of the plurality of rod connector assembliescomprising the rod connector components 110-118, will effectivelyelongate or stretch. Despite the fact that the conveyor assembly 100 maybe provided with an automatic take-up system, not shown, whicheffectively adjusts the tension upon the conveyor chain, a point in timewill be reached whereby the conveyor chain can no longer be adjusted.Therefore, in accordance with the principles and teachings of thepresent invention, an entire conveyor slat assembly, comprising aconveyor slat 102, its rod 104, and the rod connector components 110-118can be removed whereby the two conveyor slat assemblies, disposed uponopposite sides of the conveyor slat assembly that has been removed, arenow connected together through means of their respective rod connectorcomponents 110-118. Lastly, as can best be appreciated from FIG. 2, itis also to be noted that when the plurality of rods 104 are connectedtogether as has been described, adjacent pairs of end portions, or firstrod sections, 110 of the plurality of rods 104, together with the secondintervening or connecting sections 114 of the plurality of rods 104 andthe end portions of the slat members 102, effectively form four-sidedspaces 120 within which sprockets of the conveyor drive mechanism areable to be accommodated so as to in fact be capable of driving theendless conveyor 100 along its endless conveyor path.

Obviously, many variations and modifications of the present inventionare possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to beunderstood that within the scope of the appended claims, the presentinvention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically describedherein.

REFERENCE NUMBER KEY

-   100—Conveyor-   102—Longitudinal slats of conveyor 100-   104—Longitudinal rods of conveyor 100 to which slats 102 are fixedly    secured-   105—Cutouts for accommodating the end portions of the rods 104-   106—Downwardly angled leading and trailing edge portion of slats 102-   108—Upper conveying surface of conveyor 100-   110—End sections of rods 104-   112—90° knuckle connecting end rod portions 110 and second sections    114-   114—Second rod sections 110-   116—180° knuckle connecting second sections 114 to third section 118-   118—Third rod sections-   120—Spaces defined between rod end portion 110 to accommodate    sprockets-   D—Direction of movement of conveyor 100-   S—Normal spacing defined between adjacent slats 102-   α—Angle at which the edge portions of the slats extend downwardly    from the major planar portion of each slat

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent,is:
 1. An endless conveyor belt for conveying articles in apredetermined direction along a predetermined conveyor path, comprising:a plurality of slat members disposed parallel to each other, havingpredetermined length dimensions, and disposed transversely with respectto said predetermined direction along which said conveyor belt conveysarticles along said predetermined conveyor path; wherein each one ofsaid plurality of slat members has a main planar surface such that,collectively, said plurality of slat members define a conveying surfaceupon which articles being conveyed are supported; wherein each one ofsaid plurality of slat members has a predetermined width dimensionextending in said predetermined direction along which said conveyor beltconveys articles along said predetermined conveyor path; and whereinfree leading and trailing edge portions of each one of said plurality ofslat members are angled downwardly at an acute angle with respect tosaid main planar surface of each one of said plurality of slat membersupon which articles being conveyed are supported so as to prevent edgeportions of the articles being conveyed from being interposed betweensaid leading and trailing edge portions of said slat members so as notto be pinched by adjacent ones of said leading and trailing edgeportions of adjacent ones of said plurality of slat members.
 2. Theconveyor belt as set forth in claim 1, wherein: said leading andtrailing edge portions of each one of said plurality of slat members areangled downwardly, with respect to said conveying surface upon whicharticles being conveyed, at a predetermined angle.
 3. The conveyor beltas set forth in claim 2, wherein: said predetermined angle is 10°. 4.The conveyor belt as set forth in claim 1, wherein: said plurality ofslat members are fabricated from T304 stainless steel.
 5. The conveyorbelt as set forth in claim 1, wherein: said plurality of slat membersare fabricated so as to have a No. 2B brush finish so as to provide aproper conveying surface for the articles to be conveyed along saidconveyor path by said conveyor.
 6. The conveyor belt as set forth inclaim 5, wherein: said brush finish of each slat member is accomplishedby using a 20 grit belt with each slat member being passed through afinishing process twice.
 7. The conveyor belt as set forth in claim 1,wherein: said conveyor belt comprises an endless conveyor belt.
 8. Anendless conveyor belt for conveying articles in a predetermineddirection along a predetermined conveyor path, comprising: a pluralityof slat members disposed parallel to each other, having predeterminedlengths, and disposed transversely with respect to said predetermineddirection along which said conveyor belt conveys articles along saidpredetermined conveyor path; wherein each one of said plurality of slatmembers has a main planar surface such that, collectively, saidplurality of slat members define a conveying surface upon which articlesbeing conveyed are supported; wherein each one of said plurality of slatmembers has a predetermined width extending in said predetermineddirection along which said conveyor belt conveys articles along saidpredetermined conveyor path; and a plurality of separate rod membersrespectively fixedly secured to a central underlying surface portion ofeach one of said plurality of slat members forming an upper run portionof said endless conveyor and having end portions extending beyond saidpredetermined lengths of each one of said plurality of slat members. 9.The conveyor belt as set forth in claim 8, wherein: said plurality ofslat members are respectively fixedly secured to said plurality ofseparate rod members by a welding process.
 10. The conveyor belt as setforth in claim 8, wherein: said plurality of slat members havepredetermined longitudinal extents; said plurality of separate rodmembers have predetermined longitudinal extents which are greater thansaid predetermined longitudinal extents of said slat members; and saidplurality of slat members are respectively fixedly secured in acentralized manner upon said plurality of separate rod members wherebyend portions of said plurality of separate rod members extendlongitudinally beyond end portions of said plurality of slat members.11. The conveyor belt as set forth in claim 10, wherein: said endportions of said plurality of rod members are connected together. 12.The conveyor belt as set forth in claim 11, wherein: an end portion of afirst rod member fixedly secured to a first slat member is connected tosecond and third rod members respectively secured to second and thirdslat members which are disposed upon opposite sides of said first slatmember.
 13. The conveyor belt as set forth in claim 12, wherein: eachone of said end portions of said rod members comprises first, second,and third sections, a first knuckle connector integrally connecting saidfirst section to said second section, and a second knuckle connectorintegrally connecting said second section to said third section.
 14. Theconveyor belt as set forth in claim 13, wherein: said first knuckleconnector of said first rod member is operatively connected to saidsecond knuckle connector of said second rod member while said secondknuckle connector of said first rod member is operatively connected tosaid first knuckle connector of said third rod member.
 15. The conveyorbelt as set forth in claim 13, wherein: said first, second, and thirdsections of said rod members, and said first and second knuckleconnectors of said rod members together define open spaces foraccommodating drive and driven sprockets of a conveyor mechanism fordriving said conveyor belt along said conveyor path.
 16. The conveyorbelt as set forth in claim 13, wherein: each one of said plurality ofslat members, including its rod member, said first, second, and thirdsections of said rod members, and said first and second knuckleconnectors of said rod members, are removable from said conveyor beltsuch that slat members, disposed upon opposite sides of said slat memberthat has been removed from said conveyor belt, can be operativelyconnected together.
 17. The conveyor belt as set forth in claim 8,wherein: said plurality of slat members are respectively fixedly securedto said plurality of separate rod members by a crimping process.